Wacom Bamboo tablet

Nothing difficult to swallow about this

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Review The latest in Wacom's range of graphics tablets is the stylish and compact Bamboo model, which in addition to assisting with hand-written notes and memos, is also designed to replace the more standard-issue mouse.

Wacom's Bamboo: at 20 x 18.6 x 1.07cm, it doesn't take up much space

This ultra-light, affordable tablet supersedes its predecessor, the Intuos3, with its portability and streamlined design. Looks come at the expense of size, however, as the Bamboo is roughly A5 in size. It's also not as attuned for serious artwork as some of the company's larger Intuos models. That said, it is 16:10 ratio, and with many users using widescreen monitors, to find a 16:10 tablet for this price is a godsend.

One problem with tablets of this size is that the range of the active magnetic area that the cursor 'locks on' to is very small. So, for example, if you were to draw in a Photoshop document from a far distance having zoomed out, the cursor would automatically create 'joins' between the key points of the stroke, creating an ugly zigzag effect. This appears to have been largely nullified in the Bamboo, so you get a smooth, flowing stroke, even at great distances.